When an immobilized or incapacitated person attempts to move from one location to another, he or she usually relies on others for assistance. Due to the nature of the person's immobilization, physical movements can be difficult to nearly impossible in some instances. In many situations, coordinating the movements of an immobilized and/or incapacitated person with an assisting person oftentimes is a great inconvenience to the assisting person and a great cost to the immobilized person.
Devices are available to assist immobilized and incapacitated persons to some degree. For example, lifting devices may be used to lift and move an immobilized or incapacitated person from one position or location to another. Many lifting devices are operated by two or more operators in addition to the person being lifted. Often the controls of the lifting device are placed at one location for a first user to operate, such as a nurse, while a second user simultaneously assists the patient to protect against problem or injury. In addition, many current lifts are plagued by nonfluidity of motion, such that the person being lifted can be suddenly dropped, which may actually cause additional injury to that person.
Moreover, other lifts commonly have a single lifting point, which can crumple the patient into an uncomfortable position. Stated another way, such lifts may comprise a single cable with a nonrigid harness that essentially squeezes the patient's arms and legs during lifting. These are but a few of the numerous deficiencies with current patient lifting devices.
A heretofore unaddressed need exists to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies described above.